723
Quentin continues to wander around Collinwood as a zombie. Synopsis : For most people death is the end on earth, but for Quentin Collins on this night at Collinwood it is only the beginning of a desperate drama. Secrets carried on the wind invade the darkness. A body shudders as if trying to free itself from death. A child speaks with Quentin's words and thinks with Quentin's twisted thoughts. And finding the dead of night, a young girl awakes from a world of dreams to find the waking world hold even more terror. Rachel runs from her room screaming. Carl and Judith come out of their rooms, and she tells them that Quentin is sitting in her room just staring. Judith is skeptical. Rachel admits that she had a dream, but swears that the Quentin part was not part of the dream. Judith says Carl will go in and check the room out. Carl isn't in love with this idea, but Judith says he must do it because for the time being, he's the man of the house! He reluctantly agrees, and when he enters the room there's no one there. Judith takes Rachel downstairs to see Quentin in his coffin, to further ease her mind. Carl takes one more look at the empty rocking chair, then follows them downstairs. When they enter the drawing room, they are shocked to see the coffin empty. Judith nearly faints. Rachel pours her a sherry. They all speculate nervously about what could have happened to the body. Judith thinks it's some sort of "macabre joke." Rachel thinks whoever killed Quentin might have done it. Suddenly there's a knock at the door. Judith makes Rachel answer it. Rachel goes to the door and asks, "who is it?" Meanwhile, Carl has returned to Rachel's room for another look around. He looks everywhere, even under the bed, then he sees a shadow pass by the door. He goes out into the hall. Barnabas is the visitor downstairs, and he's just heard the whole story of the night's events from Judith and Rachel. He suggests that the body may have left Rachel's room through the secret panel (then he has to think quick and say he knew about the secret panel, because he has a book written by the architect of Collinwood.) Carl is nervously looking around the hall upstairs, and he finally discovers Quentin behind the curtains. Downstairs everyone hears Carl scream. Moments later, Carl is lying on the floor upstairs after Quentin has attempted to strangle him. Carl is taken to the drawing room sofa and revived. He says Quentin tried to choke him. He describes Quentin as having had ice cold hands, and empty eyes. Barnabas gets his "I know what he's talking about" look. Barnabas announces that he knows why Quentin is up and roaming around, but he must find Quentin now, then he'll explain. Rachel tells him to be careful as he leaves. In a short time, Barnabas comes downstairs saying that Quentin is nowhere to be found. He proceeds to educate Judith, Carl and Rachel on zombies. He says he learned all about them in Martinique, and Quentin has all the symptoms. He explains that someone is using Quentin as a "mindless hulk" to kill for them. Judith wonders how dear Quentin could get mixed up with somebody like that. Barnabas says the important thing now is to undo what's been done. He knows that the way to stop a zombie is by burning cypress and myrrh beside the coffin, then the zombie will return to the coffin, at which time the coffin should be buried and covered with cement. He goes to the Old House to get the required articles from Magda, who's always got plenty of cypress and myrrh on hand. He tells Carl to hold down the fort while he's gone. Sometime later, Barnabas and Carl have the potpourri burning by the coffin. They hear a noise, and go into hiding. Quentin comes downstairs, and enters the drawing room. He opens the coffin. Upstairs Judith and Rachel are waiting nervously for a report from downstairs. Carl comes in and happily announces that Quentin got into the coffin with no trouble at all. Meanwhile downstairs, Barnabas is looking at Quentin and saying, "I know who controls your will - who else but Angelique?" He then vows that Angelique won't stop him from doing what he has to do in this time. Judith enters the drawing room and asks Barnabas if he and Carl will do the task of burying the coffin and pouring the cement. Barnabas now tries to back out of doing this, although he can't come up with a good reason not to. Later on, Quentin's coffin is in a grave in the cemetery, and Barnabas and Carl are covering it with cement, while Judith looks on to make sure they're doing it right. A storm kicks up as they finish the job. Judith returns to Collinwood and tells Rachel that's it's over. She says she's going to go to bed now that it's nearly dawn. She leaves and lets Rachel have the job of turning out the lights. Barnabas comes in, saying he had to stop by to see if Rachel was alright. She says she is, but she's decided to leave Collinwood, because the place is just too darn spooky for her taste. Barnabas begs her not to be too hasty, but he says he doesn't have time to discuss it now. He tells Rachel to at least stay there until he comes back, then he rushes off. Rachel finishes turning out the lights, then she starts up the stairs, but she hears the front door open. She comes back down happily saying, "Barnabas, I knew you couldn't leave just like that." She goes outside and sees no one. She turns around, and Quentin comes out of the bushes. She faints, and he picks her up and carries her away from the house. Memorable quotes : Judith: (to Carl) You're the man of the house. ---- : Judith: What kind of mind could conceive a grotesque thing like this? Someone like that is capable of anything. None of us is safe. ---- : Judith: This is something from the depths of hell. ---- : Barnabas: Someone is using him as a mindless hulk to maim and kill, knowing nothing and feeling nothing. ---- : Rachel: This place terrifies me. There are too many dark secrets here. Even with dawn beginning and a new day over the hill, I"m frightened. Dramatis personae * Joan Bennett as Judith Collins * Jonathan Frid as Barnabas Collins * Kathryn Leigh Scott as Rachel Drummond * John Karlen as Carl Collins * David Selby as Quentin Collins Background information and notes Production Story * Barnabas learned about zombies during his time in Martinique. As a very young man he travelled to the West Indies. In a remote village there the inhabitants were filled with terror because a young man had died and came back to life as a zombie. The body was brought back to rest by burning and beside the coffin. The coffin was then covered with cement so that the body could never escape again. * INTERNAL MONOLOGUE: Barnabas: Angelique hasn't won yet. * TIMELINE: Barnabas has only been in 1897 for a "few weeks", (this information is also given in 726). It's almost dawn (this information is also given in the next episode). Bloopers and continuity errors * The reprise of the previous episode is different as Rachel goes to the window this time and finds Quentin sitting in the rocking chair. Previosuly, she was in bed when she saw Quentin. * Yellow blocking marks are visible on the floor. * As Barnabas talks to Carl, Rachel, and Judith, the drawing room door slowly shuts by itself. * Smoke from the graveyard drifts into the drawing room. [Addendum: At least some of the smoke could also be remnants from the cypress and myrrh being burned by the coffin in the drawing room earlier.] * The following times are given: 12am as Quentin's coffin is found empty, and, 12:35am as Barnabas finds Quentin gone. However, both these times conflict with the 1:20am time given in the previous episode as it would appear to still be the same night. * As Barnabas tells everyone that he will check to see if Magda has the myrrh and cypress, he forgets the cypress, pauses, and then hurriedly says "the things that she needs." * If the events of this episode all take place in one night, then how were Barnabas and Carl able to fill in the grave, mix the cement, pour the cement, and do everything they needed to do before sunrise? For that matter, did they just happen to have cement mix ready to hand at Collinwood? If so, why? (Guess it was in the store room, next to the myrrh and cypress.) External Links Dark Shadows - Episode 723 on the IMDb Dark Shadows Everyday - Episode 723 - Pride and Prejudice and Zombies and VampiresCategory:Dark Shadows episodes